Early Modern English: Spelling and Pronunciation
Spelling Standardization
A significant undertaking during the Early Modern English (eModE) period was the standardization of spelling. By 1700, the English language was largely regulated, making texts from that era surprisingly accessible to modern readers (Fennell, 2001: 138; McIntyre, 2009: 28). This ease of comprehension stems from the fact that modern orthography largely reflects the pronunciation of the late fifteenth century (Graddol, 1996: 73; Salmon, 1999: 53).
Key orthographical changes during this period include:
- Distinction of u/v (circa 1630), finalized in the eighteenth century (Salmon, 1999: 28).
- Separation of i/j as vowel and consonant (Hogg & Denison, 2006: 31).
These changes were partly driven by scholars and writers aiming to elevate the language’s status by aligning English spellings with their Latin and Greek counterparts (Nevalainen & Tieken-Boon Van Ostade, 2006: 281). However, this often increased the disparity between spelling and pronunciation (Salmon, 1999: 27f.).
Examples include the silent b in French loanwords like doubt and debt. Latinizations, such as admonish (from ME amonest) and adultery (from ME avoutrie), influenced pronunciation shifts. Greek etymology prompted changes from <t> to <th> in words like throne, theatre, and rhyme, and even <l> to <ph> in words like phantom. The initial /h/, lost since late Latin, was reintroduced in words like hotel, hospital, and historical, impacting pronunciation in some cases but not others, like hour and honesty (Minkova & Stockwell, 2008: 39). Other respellings include the <l> in fault and could (erroneously linked to should and would), the in island, and the in author.
Punctuation also evolved from a primarily rhetorical system in Middle English to a grammar-based one, largely consistent with Continental practices (Blake, 1996: 242; Graddol, 1996: 63).
The Great Vowel Shift
The Present-Day English double stress system (Germanic and Romance) solidified by the sixteenth century. The Romance system became functional around this time, influencing part of the Romance lexicon (Lass, 2006: 94f.). A distinction emerged between disyllabic nouns with first-syllable stress and their cognate verbs with final stress.
However, the most significant phonological development was the Great Vowel Shift (GVS), starting around 1400 and concluding in the nineteenth century. While its impact on vowels is undeniable, the chronology of these changes remains debated (Lass, 2006: 82, 87). All long vowels were affected, either raising (e.g., /i:/ and /u:/) or diphthongizing (e.g., /aɪ/, /eʊ/, /oʊ/, /aʊ/).
The GVS, an unconditioned change affecting vowels regardless of phonetic environment, began in London English (Graddol & Leith, 1996: 153) and progressed through several stages. The causes of the GVS are still debated, with some suggesting sociolinguistic factors, such as imitation of London pronunciation (Leith, 1983: 146; 1996: 211), while others propose internal phonological causes (Blake, 1996: 242; Brinton and Arnovick, 2006: 309). The role of vowel mergers in this chain shift is also under discussion (Gordon, 2002).
A major challenge for standardization was that orthography was fixed before the GVS completed. Consequently, Present-Day English often exhibits discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation (McIntyre, 2009: 59).